Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/726231
IN THE WIND P24 GNCC FIRES BACK UP AT UNADILLA T he 2016 Amsoil Grand Na- tional Cross Country (GNCC) Series presented by Maxxis, an AMA National Championship, fired back up after a three- month break in the series. Rac- ing resumed at the 12th Annual Parts Unlimited Unadilla GNCC at the well-known Unadilla MX facility in New Berlin, New York, September 10-11. As it turned out, not much has changed since the last race in Snowshoe, West Virginia—Kailub Russell won again. The FMF/KTM Factory Rac- ing Team rider continued his dominance in the XC1 Pro class where he claimed his seventh overall win of the season. But it didn't quite start out that way as Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing/Bel-Ray's Josh Strang earned the $250 All Balls Racing XC1 Pro Holeshot Award with Russell getting off to a mid- pack start. But that didn't seem matter for Russell. By the time they checked through the scoring chute at the end of the first lap, he was already in the lead—and way in the lead. Forty-three sec- onds back trailed Strang, who was closely followed by Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/KR4 Arrive- N-Ride Team's Thad DuVall. Russell steadily extended his lead as the race wore on, but the same couldn't be said for the lead Strang had on DuVall. The two Husqvarna riders battled closely throughout the three- hour race, while Russell cruised out in front. Despite a fall on the last lap, Russell crossed the finish more than a half-minute ahead of Strang, who finished just inches head of DuVall. "I did what I wanted to do the first half of the race and then just maintained from there," said Russell. "I was having fun, until the last lap where I ended up going over the bars on the railroad ties and clipped another rider and it jerked my hands off the bars." For Strang and DuVall, their race was decided on the last lap when DuVall stopped for fuel and Strang chose to continue on. The gamble paid off for Strang who held off the charg- ing DuVall. "I got off to a good start and got out front early," said DuVall. "I felt like I rode great and had an epic battle with Josh all day. We decided to pit on the last lap because we didn't want a repeat of Georgia when I ran out of gas. I may have been a little tired the last lap when I was trying to pass Josh back, but I gave it my all. You can never be unhappy when you know you left it all out on the track." "Second isn't too bad; it's just not what we are after," said Kailub Russell picked up where he left off at the Unadilla round of the 2016 GNCC Championship— winning. PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN HILL